KEY FACTS AND EVENTS

Today several dozens of millions paper copies had been put into circulation since its first publication. On top internet publications (infringming copyright laws) are available.

ONLINE

In 1999, the Simon Wiesenthal Center documented that major Internet booksellers like amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com sell Mein Kampf to Germany. After a public outcry, both companies agreed to stop those sales. The book is currently available through both companies. Public-domain copies of Mein Kampf are available at various Internet sites with links to banned books. Additionally, several Web sites provide the text of the book.

BY COUNTRY

EUROPE

AUSTRIA

In Austria, the possession and/or trading of Mein Kampf is illegal.

BULGARIA

In Bulgaria, its publishing caused some controversies but is freely available for selling since 2001.

CROATIA

In Croatia, Mein Kampf was published in 1999, second edition in 2003, and the German language edition in 2002.

Croatia: Publication has prevented by the state of Bavaria.

CZECH REPUBLIC

In the Czech Republic, Mein Kampf was first sold in the Czech lands in 1936, and again in 1993, both times in abridged, annotated versions. In March 2000, the full Czech edition was published by Otakar II.

Czech Republic: The book has been published with commentary, but Czech law prevents the dissemination of both Nazi and Communist ideology.

In November 2010, The State of Bavaria won their case against the publisher Kma to recall and destroy the copies of their publication.

DENMARK

In Denmark the book can be bought and 50 copies are available in the public libraries.

FRANCE

In France, the selling of the book is forbidden unless the transaction concerns a historical version including commentaries from specialists and states the law allowing its special historical edition. In 2002, a French court ruled that the company Yahoo! had to pay €100,000 per diem for selling revisionist materials, including Mein Kampf and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, to French customers. Available and legal, but a front note is compulsory – Les nouvelles éditions latines. Les nouvelles éditions latines means ‘The new Latin editions’ in English.

GERMANY

Publication of Mein Kampf is banned and research involving it requires a background check. The state of Bavaria owns the copyright to all editions except the English and Dutch versions. The copyright expires in 2015

The government of Bavaria, in agreement with the federal government of Germany, does not allow any copying or printing of the book in Germany and opposes it also in other countries but with less success. Owning and buying the book is legal. Trading in old copies is legal as well unless it is done in such a fashion as to “promote hatred or war”, which is, under anti-revisionist laws, generally illegal. In particular, the unmodified edition is not covered by §86 StGB that forbids dissemination of means of propaganda of unconstitutional organizations, since it is a “pre-constitutional work” and as such cannot be opposed to the free and democratic basic order, according to a 1979 decision of the Federal Court of Justice of Germany. Most German libraries carry heavily commented and excerpted versions of Mein Kampf.

A future publication has been announced (after the 2015 deadline) of an annotated edition by the Institute of Contemporary History (Ifz) in Germany.

THE NETHERLANDS

In the Netherlands, selling the book, even in the case of an old copy, may be illegal as “promoting hatred”, but possession and lending is not. Though mainly the matter is handled as a matter of copyright infringement as the Dutch state will not allow any publishing. In 1997, the government explained to the parliament that selling a scientifically annotated version might escape prosecution.

In 2007, the discussion flared up again and the same arguments for and against as in 1997 were uttered. In 2015, the copyright on the Dutch translation becomes void.

POLAND

In 2005, Bavaria attempted to stop distribution of the book days before it went on sale with a historical forward. A previous edition had been published in 1992 without historical context and has been banned.

In 2009, Bavaria won a second case – 3 months suspended sentence and 2,270 Euro fine- against the publisher for publishing 20,000 copies in 2005.

In the USSR, the book was unavailable and de facto prohibited. In the Russian Federation, Mein Kampf has been published at least three times since 1992; the Russian text is also available on a number of websites. Recently the Public Chamber of Russia proposed to ban the book.

On March 26, 2010, it was announced that Mein Kampf is outlawed on grounds of extremism promotion.

SPAIN

In Spain, the book is unavailable, but copies before the unavailability of the book still exist. (Note: recent changes may have changed this status.)

SWEDEN

When Mein Kampf was republished in Sweden in 1992, the government of Bavaria tried to put a ban on the book. The case went all the way to the Swedish Supreme Court. The court ruled in 1998 that the copyright could not be owned by the modern state of Bavaria. Since the publishing house that published Mein Kampf in the thirties had long gone out of business, Mein Kampfshould be considered as being in a state of limbo (or even in the public domain).

TURKEY

It was widely available and growing in popularity, even to the point where it became a bestseller, selling up to 100,000 copies in just two months in 2005. Analysts and commentators believe the popularity of the book to be related to a rise in nationalism, anti-US and antisemitic sentiment “because of what is happening in the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian problem and the war in Iraq”. Dogu Ergil, a political scientist at Ankara University, said both left-wingers, the far-right and Islamists, had found common ground – “not on a common agenda for the future, but on their anxieties, fears and hate”.

The German state of Bavaria had previously attempted to prevent the publication

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, Mein Kampf is readily available and sells 3,000 copies annually.

ASIA

JAPAN

A Japanese version of Mein Kampf (わが闘争, waga tōsō?) in manga form is produced by East Press, as part of its Manga de Dokuha series. It has been dismissed by the Bavarian Finance Ministry as the wrong medium in which to tell the story.

In Mexico, Mein Kampf cannot be found in the largest book stores or libraries because they say its selling is prohibited, but can be encountered in some small book stores and among “pirate” book vendors in Mexico City and other cities.

ARGENTINA

In Argentina its publication or import in significant numbers is illegal, as well as second-hand trade, since it falls under the article of the Penal Code regarding “anti-semitic and National-Socialist propaganda”. Possession and lending are legal. In spite of the law, it is readily available in many bookstores, generally asking for it and sold under the counter. These copies are probably smuggled from Chile, where its publication is not banned.

NORTH AMERICA

CANADA

Though it is available in Canada, Heather Reisman, owner of the Chapters/Indigo chain of bookshops (Canada’s largest and only national book chain) has banned the book from being sold in her stores or ordered via the chain’s website.

UNITED STATES

In the United States, the book can be found at almost any community library and can be bought, sold and traded from many websites like Amazon.com and Borders Book Store. The U.S. government seized the copyright during the Second World War as part of the Trading with the Enemy Act and in 1979, Houghton Mifflin, the U.S. publisher of the book, bought the rights from the government. More than 15,000 copies are sold a year.

MIDDLE EAST

LEBANON

In Lebanon, an Arabic edition of Mein Kampf was published in 1995 by Bisan/Beisan.

ISRAEL

Annotated excerpt version (pedagogical)

PALESTINE

Palestine: An Arabic translation of Mein Kampf is a best-seller, and the University of Hamburg reports Hitler is a hero to the youth.

AUSTRALIA

The book is legal to buy and trade, and available in most libraries as a historical text. It is also available free online as part of Project Gutenberg Australia.